What “Everything Is a File” Means on Linux

One of the defining features of Linux and other UNIX-like operating systems is that “everything is a file.” This is an oversimplification, but understanding what it means will help you understand how Linux works.

Many things on Linux appear in your file system, but they aren’t actually files. They’re special files that represent hardware devices, system information, and other things — including a random number generator.

These special files may be located in pseudo or virtual file systems such as /dev, which contains special files that represent devices, and /proc, which contains special files that represent system and process information.